A number of popular prior art methods of manufacturing printed circuit boards include the steps of fluxing the prepared board and dipping it into molten solder, despite the obvious disadvantages flowing from the resultant chemical contamination, thermal shock and possibility of molten metal migration. Other prior art procedures attempt to avoid these difficulties by electrolytically depositing the solder or other metal that is ultimately to be used in attaching the leads of such circuit components as capacitors, resistors, diodes and the like to the printed circuit board. However, the prior art methods which eliminate molten solder dipping employ a layer of solder, nickel, or other suitable metal over the entire circuit board as an etch-resist. These schemes risk short-circuiting of densely packed circuit designs when the plated solder is heat-reflowed or when the excess copper is etched away and tend to introduce unwanted expense.